When Your Body Says "Sit Down" But Your Creative Brain Says "Keep Going"

As important as play, imagination and action are deeply important for our creative nourishment and momentum......

So is rest.

I've been dealing with some health challenges in the last couple of weeks and it's become almost comical how loud the need to sit my ass down has become.

I thought I was pretty good at resting but I stand corrected and extremely humble.

Because when we have the experience of "pushing through" or trying to create while we are on E(mpty), we can end up perpetuating the belief that creating is hard and takes a lot of effort and energy.

Like with anything, there's nuance.

Sometimes creating something - making something that didn't exist before or taking steps on a project - is actually the thing that makes us feel better, more energized.......sometimes it's what is absolutely necessary.

But sometimes, our body and our creative spark is asking for something else.

Sometimes resting or doing nothing besides staring at the sky or a tree or even the ceiling is what we need.

To reset; to recalibrate; to give our brains a break and our imagination some space

So here are some questions I am asking myself this week:

• What is my relationship to (creative) rest?

• Do I have any fears around intentional (creative) rest?

• What *type* of rest could feel restorative to my creative practice?

• What would be possible in my creative practice or projects if I gave myself the type of rest that is being asked of me?

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